Money! Income vs. Cost of the Wedding?

I don't know of any set rule of thumb. FH and I are paying for about half of our wedding. The total cost of the wedding is about 15-20% of our combined annual income so we're covering 8-10% of our income. I hope that helps, though it may be more confusing then helpful.

Ive never heard of a ratio based on income, but i knew how much i wanted to spend and then set aside that amount of money each month. Depending on your bills, debt, circumstances, setting aside that money could be harder or easier.

DH and I figured out how much we could save together monthly and times that amount to the number of months until our preferred wedding date.

Thats how we figured out our wedding budget and was.

Saving for a house is more important to us so what we're putting in a small fraction towards the wedding.

Basically, whatever you're comfortable spending.

I've never seen a set ratio, but you need to sit down and figure out what everyone is willing to contribute. You have to think about your longer term goals, how much you want to save, etc. FH and I sat down and calculated everything (401k contributions, investments, house down payment, etc) to how much we were willing and could contribute and how much our parents were going to give us. If you have to go into debt for a wedding, or if it becoming too much of a struggle to pay for it, it's time to scale down. This should be a fantastic time in your life, and you don't want to start out your new lives together fighting about finances.

We set a budget then figured how how to meet it. We started with what the parents would contribute, then any lump sums we could throw into the pot (my bonus from work), and then took the rest and divided it by the amount of months we have until the wedding, then divided that by two, and that's the amount that we each have to put aside each month. We refuse to go into debt for this thing. If your salary has doubled, then double your monthly contribution to your wedding fund. As far as how big your wedding has to be according to your income, I've never heard that.

I think it is about spending what you are comfortable with.

We just saved what we could sacrifice.

I figured out what I would be comfortable saving and spending by myself as this is his second wedding and I don't expect my parents nor his to contribute much. I told him what I was willing to spend on major budget issues and he had a few objections, he wants more spent on alcohol and photography so I told him then you can come up with the money to raise that to a level that is acceptable to you and he agreed, it had nothing to do with either of our incomes just based it on how many people and how much we wanted.

At the end of the day, look at what you usually save. I mean totally put aside each payday, with no intention of touching for the time being. If it isn't much, see what you can sacrifice.

But most importantly, look at the fact your wedding is just one day - no matter how it turns out, you will still be married and spending your life together. Spending a lot of dosh on one day really isn't the point - it's having a lovely day you will remember and not look back and think, "Wow, how long until we pay the credit cards off?"

Finances can be very tricky... it really depends what you can afford to put away/ what you are willing to go without to pay.

We are just being reasonable with our choices & spending. We don't want a lot of debt after the wedding, so it's cash & carry or debit cards. We also open up a wedding savings account for the large purchases.

If your parents can't foot the entire bill, I don't think it's your responsibility. If your FH's family can and is willing to help, maybe you all can spread the love (or expenses) around so no one is taking a major hit.

We never figured out the cost of wedding as a % of our income. We just knew what we could afford by working it into the budget.

There is no correlation, its just how much you have left over at the end of the month to save and how much you are willing to spend. Some people want the big wedding while others would rather use the money for life after the wedding... a down payment on a house, saving for a baby, whatever...

Theres some people that make 100k a year and have so many bills that they still only have 300 left over.

And theres others that make only 20k but they have very little or no bills and have 600 left over.

Just make a monthly budget (income minus outgo) and talk to your fiance and figure out what you want to do and what you can do.

Between me and FH we bring in $2800 a month, after bills we have $350 left over. $200 of that goes toward the wedding, the rest is free money to cover weekly expenses that we didnt budget for

We came up with a budget based on how much we make, what our living expenses are, our retirement savings, quality of life expenses and lastly the wedding. Part of the reason why it took us 2 and a half years to save for our wedding. And we're paying for the wedding completely ourselves.

We came up with a reasonable number based on the area we wanted to get married in, the type (and size) of wedding we wanted and then looked at how much we'd need to save. We didn't immediately look at income as to how much we'd spend but we ensured our normal spending habits, how much time we had to save, and the amount we needed were all in line. With this we were able to save enough for the wedding and have it all available and earning interest several months in advanced. We also ensured we had an emergency fund in place that we wouldn't dip into for the wedding. Almost all of my kitchen appliances broke this year (older house that came with appliances), needed new tires, etc... so we had a backup that didn't affect our wedding plan.

Thank you ladies so much. I decided that I would spend enough to do a really nice wedding but not too much that I regret being silly with my new money. I know I could pay 20k cash for my wedding but I don't think I need to, esp for one day.

Most importantly I decided to save/invest the same amount of money I spend on the wedding this year. Dollar for dollar so if I spend 12k I have to save 12k this year. That way I wont feel like I am not staying focused on my growth in all aspects of my life, not just me becoming a wife.